The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has announced that new proposals to crack down on economic crimes such as fraud and money laundering are to be considered later this year.
MoJ will consult on plans to extend the scope of the criminal offence of a corporate “failing to prevent” beyond bribery and tax evasion to other economic crimes.
Police and other law enforcement agencies may struggle to prosecute corporations for money laundering, false accounting and fraud under existing common laws.
The consultation will seek views and evidence to assess whether changes in the law would allow the courts to more effectively prosecute corporate economic crime.
The Prime Minister recently announced that the government would escalate the introduction of a criminal offence for corporations who fail to stop their staff facilitating tax evasion – there have been two prosecutions recently for the offence of failure of a commercial organisation to prevent bribery on its behalf.
Justice Minister Dominic Raab said:
“The government is finding new ways to tackle economic crime – and we are taking a rigorous and robust approach to corporations that fail to prevent bribery or allow the tax evasion on their behalf.
“We now want to carefully consider whether the evidence justifies any further extension of this model to other areas of economic crime, so that large corporations are properly held to account.
The consultation – to be published this summer – will explore whether the “failure to prevent” model should be extended to complement existing legal and regulatory frameworks.
Duncan Lewis Fraud Lawyers
Duncan Lewis fraud lawyers can advise at any stage of a charge involving fraud, including:
• Benefit fraud
• Boiler room scams
• Company fraud
• Conveyancing fraud
• Credit card fraud
• False accounting
• Financial fraud
• Identity fraud
• Immigration fraud
• Investment fraud
• Mortgage fraud
• Passport & visa fraud
• Phantom companies
• Ponzi schemes
• Tax and VAT evasion.
There are Duncan Lewis offices nationwide and a Duncan Lewis fraud lawyer can attend interview under caution with SFO, FCA, City of London Police, Border Force, DWP, HMRC, BIS and the Insolvency Agency.
For expert legal advice on fraud charges, call Duncan Lewis fraud lawyers on 0333 772 0409.
For 24/7 help at a police station, call the Duncan Lewis Solicitors 24-Hour Emergency Helpline on 0333 772 0607.